Did ‘King Of Kong’ Star Billy Mitchell Lie About His Donkey Kong High Scores?

There’s a new chapter in the seemingly never-ending quest for Donkey Kong dominance.

Fans of the 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters remember the video game rivalry between Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. The film followed the die-hard gamers as they competed against one another to earn Donkey Kong records and video game glory. The film framed the story as a battle between good vs. evil, which is evident in the trailer as Billy is referred to as a “very devious person” and even features Mitchell himself deviously decreeing that “Billy Mitchell always has a plan.” Now some in the video game community are asserting that Mitchell’s plan may have included deception.

VentureBeat reports that a Donkey Kong fansite has removed three of Mitchell’s high scores after determining that he was dishonest about the details surrounding his impressive gaming. An analysis allegedly revealed that Mitchell likely misled the video game community about playing on original arcade hardware. It’s suggested that Mitchell instead played his best Donkey Kong games on a Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (MAME), which would be an issue since those types of machines can be manipulated.

VentureBeat’s Jeffrey Grubb notes that “MAME’s INP recording capability enables players to rewind their mistakes, continue playing, and then stitch together a final recording that looks like one, unbroken playthrough,” which is obviously not ideal when dealing with world records. While some scorekeepers do accept results performed on MAME, they typically require some type of independent verification.

“It is not my wish to fracture a community or affect anyone’s personal life. But ultimately, I have to do what I think is right,” Young wrote regarding his decision on the Donkey Kong forum. “If this community (and others like it) are built on the idea of friendship through competition, camaraderie through our shared pains in pushing ourselves, our friends, and these games to their limits, then we must strive for honesty and legitimacy. A house built on lies is not worth living in.”